Peat machine



Aug. 26, 1924. 1,5063% C. A. WILLMARTH FEAT MACHINE Fil ed Sept.' 2a, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. .26, :924 I 1,506,036

c. A. WILLMARTH FEAT MACHINE Filed Sept. 28. 1923 2 Sheets-Shae; 2

Patented Aug. 26, 1924.

UNITED STATES CHARLES A. WILLMARTI-I, OF TECUMSEH, MICHIGAN.

PEAT MACHINE.

Application filed September 28, 1923.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OHARLEs A. VILL- MARTI-I, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Tecumseh, in the county of Lenawee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Peat Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to a peat machine and is adapted to be used in the manufacture of fuel made from peat or a composition matter in which peat predominates for fuel purposes. Various grades of peat may be obtained for fuel purposes and all grades of peat contain decayed vegetable matter which in some grades of peat requires cutting or disintegrating in order that the peat may be easily-molded into briquets or other forms that may be readily handled as fuel. Some grades of peat, for instance, humus, simply requires disintegration in order to be molded into briquets, so I have devised a machine by which various grades of peat may be cut, crushed or otherwise disintegrated and placed in such condition that it may be economically and expeditiously molded into briquets.

My machine includes novel sawing or severing instrumentalities which cooperate in positively dividing any stringy or fibrous vegetable matter contained in peat. One of these instrumentalities has a sawing action relative to the other instrumentality and in consequence of such action fibrous peat may be reduced for a granular, flufi'y condition, as fine as saw dust, so as to be conformable to various shapes by having pressure applied thereto.

My machine, in addition to the cutting instrumentalities includes crushing instrumentalities in the form of cooperating rolls adapted to crush humus or water cells and any indurate mineral or fibrous matter which may have escaped disintegration by the sawing instrumentalities.

My machine also includes molds into which peat is fed under sufficient pressure to compress the peat and impart shapes thereto that will permit of the peat being eventually easily handled, for instance in briquet form.

My invent-ion further aims to provide a machine for accomplishing the above results wherein the parts are constructed with Serial No. 665,340.

a View of reducing the cost of manufacture, easy of assembling, accessibility to the molds v and other instrumentalities of the machine, and compactness so that the machine will occupy a comparatively small space in the fuel producing plant.

Reference will now be had to the drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the machine;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan of the cutting or shredding instrumentalities;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view ofa portion of the machine;

Fig. 4 is an end View ofa mold;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a greater part of the machine;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional View taken on the line VI--VI of Fig. 5, and

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on the line VII-VII of Fig. 3.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 denotes a bed or foundation on which are mounted A frames 2, 3,4 and 5, also an upright 6. The A frames 2 and 4 are provided with bearings 7 for a driven shaft 8 provided with a pulley or belt wheel 9 so that said shaft may be driven from an engine or motor. On the driven shaft 8 is a small gear wheel 10 meshing with a large gear wheel 11 mounted on a screw shaft 12 journaled in bearings 18 and 14 carried by the A frames 3 and 4. The same bearings support another screw shaft 15 and both shafts have meshing gear wheels 16 whereby said shafts may be driven in adapted to cooperate in crushing peat after having been disintegrated in the upper part of the machine, as will hereinafter appear.

On one end of the shaft 24% is a large gear wheel 27 and a small sprocket wheel 28, said large gear wheel meshing with a small gear wheel 29 mounted on the shaft Ill) 25, which is also provided with a sprocket wheel 30 or other vpower transmission member to permit of said shaft being driven by a sprocket chain or other power transmission member from aisuitablesource of power (not shown).

Mounted on the end walls \20 are bearings 31 for shafts 32 and 33, the former having a sprocket wheel 34 over'whichlis'trained a sprocket chain 35 driven from the sprocket wheel 28, and in conse v uence ofthis -arrangement the power "applied to the sprocket wheel"30drives three shafts 24, 25 and 26.

On"the shaft 3'2 is a roll 36 provided with *a series Ofcircumfer'ential grooves '37 which are preferably V-shaped'ni cross SQCtlOIl' and-extending into said grooves are the peripheral saw tooth cutting'members 38' of aroll 39 mountedon the shaft "83 said shaft having a pulley or power transmission wheel 40 fat 'oneend thereof so "that it may be driven independent of the shaft 32 and preferably at a greater speed. Therelation of the rolls 36 "and 39 is such as to provide *a narrow pass between-the'ro1ls for peat which must" encounter the cutting members 38 of the roll 39 and the annual break-down edges 41 of "the roll 36; the edges '41 break ing the peat'between thecutting members- 3'8 and said 1 members cutting" the peat in the grooves 37 betweenthe edges"41. These rolls alone will break' down and disinte grate 'p'eatfe'd into-thepass between said roll's, and "to soguide peat the end walls- 21 are connected 'byinwardly converging side wallsi or deflectors42 whi'olrmay maintarn aquantity of peat'ontop 'of the rolls 36" and"39 to passtherebet-ween. After passing between thes'e rolls the peat encounters held on said rolls by=inwardly converging wallsor deflectors 43 connecting the end wall's'"20.*- Inorder that access may behad to"any-peat "between 'theupper and lower sets"of"rolls the' end walls 21 support a pivoted door or gate 44' w'h'iclrmay 'be swung upward'ly,- as "shown :in Fig. 1, this-door said *screws being *mounted on the shafts 12and 15 which are also'journale d inbearin'gs 47 carried by the hopper 18. The shaftsaind screwsextend out of the-hopper the rolls" 26"an'd a quantitybf peat may be relation, asbest shown in Figs. 5 and 7,

" 'into a" two-part "extension- 48-, one part of which is in the form of a hinged lid 49 hinged tothe stationary part of the exten sion, as at 50, andheld'iira closed position by a suitable catch or other device 51. The extension 48, as well as the bottom 17 of the hopper 18 has a cross sectional shape conformable to the screws 46 to facilitate the feeding of disintegrated peat into the extension in which the screws terminate. See Fig. 3.

At the outer end o-fthehopper extension 48 is a tapered outlet member *52,*preferably detachably connected to thehop-per eXten-"- sion, and into thisoutlet member is fed peat from the cylinder18; At the outer end of the outlet member '52 is a molding'mem ber 53 having a plurality *ofopenings-54' through which peat is forced and a 'cylin drical shape-imparted thereto. The mold ing member 53 is preferably attachedto the outletmember 52 by a'hinge55 so that it maybe'swung upwardly out of the roadwhen it is desired to obtain peat'in'a greater bulk, and asthepeatis ejected from*'the'- molding member '53 small quantiti'es' ar'e adapted be broken off 'b i n 5 21 a yoke 57 pivotally=attached to thesides' of the outlet member 52.

As a matter of good construction, I prefer" to make the 'cuttingmembers 38 in the form' of disks with spacing washers therebetween and said disks andwashers-all assembled on the shaft: 33 "and clamped together by nuts orother clampingmeans.

From the I foregoing" it will be observed 11 that I have devised a compact and-durable machine embodying 1a lower hopper, an" 'intermedia-tehopper and an upper hopper with rolls in said hoppers disposedso-thatvarious kindsof peat may" be deposited in the upper hopper 'to be disintegrated by the rolls the upper hopper, discharged into= the pass between the rolls of the intermediate hopper; and eventually" discharged on to the feed screws to'be fed into the outlet member and moulded into small quantities, for *instance' cylindrical briquets, which may be dried,

cured or otherwise treated so-as to -be' con veniently handled as fuel. v

VVh'ile' in the drawings there is illustrated a preferred embodiment 'ofmy" invention:

it is to be understood that the structural elements are susceptible to such changes asare permissible by the appended claim hat I claim is:

1. In a. peat machine," awset of it driven crushing rolls, a set'of disintegrating rolls above said crushing-rolls and diseharging into the pass of said crushlng'rolls,"a=hop-" in said hopper, and amouldin'g'memberat per below said crushing 'rol'ls, feedscrews an end of said hopper ada-pted' to"receive peat therefrom.

'2. A'peat machine ascall'ed for inclaim" l, whereinsai'd' set'of disintegrating-Tolls includes a roll having grooves, and a roll having peripheral cutting members extendinlgi into the grooves of the first mentioned ro 3. A peat machine as called for in claim 1., wherein said feed screws are disposed in parallel overlapping relation and operated independent of said rolls.

4. In a peat machine, a set of rolls, one of said rolls having grooves, peripheral cutting members on the other roll extending into the grooves of the first mentioned roll, and peat molding means adapted to receive peat from said rolls.

5. A peat machine comprising a hopper having an outlet, feed screws in said hopper, peat molding means at the hopper outlet into which peat is fed by said feed screws, superposed end walls on said hopper, inclined side walls connecting said end walls, superposed sets of rolls between said end walls, and

means for driving some of said rolls at variable speeds.

6. A peat machine comprising a bottom hopper, an intermediate hopper and an upper hopper, rolls in said intermediate and upper hopper, feed screws in said bottom hopper, an outlet member for said bottom hopper, and a moulding member carried by said outlet member.

7. In a peat machine, upper and lower hoppers, peat sawing means in the upper hopper, peat crushing means in the lower hopper adapted to crush sawed peat, and peat moulding means adapted to. receive peat from the lower hopper.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES A. \VILLMARTI-I.

Witnesses:

ANNA M. DORR, KARL H. BUTLER. 

